Bangladesh ex-PMs "marginalised", under pressure

DHAKA, June 15 (Reuters) Bangladesh's former prime ministers, Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia, are being increasingly marginalised by efforts to reshape politics and make governance free from corruption, analysts say.

Separately Hasina said she would still try to leave the country to visit relatives abroad today, despite a court request that officials bar her departure.

Analysts said pressure was building on Hasina and Khaleda, the country's most powerful leaders until recently but now struggling to keep from being effectively sidelined, to reform the two political parties they respectively lead.

But that process could itself mean they lose their top posts or at least see their authority drastically cut.

Adding to their woes, both face charges of corruption and abuse of power, including in promoting their kin.

''The allegations being brought against Hasina and Khaleda are very damaging, especially when they come from their former colleagues,'' said retired army major-general Syed Mohammad Ibrahim, a political and defence analyst.

''Maybe the nation is waiting for more bad news that would further marginalise the two ladies in politics,'' he told Reuters.

Refering to a recent restriction on Hasina, chief of the Awami League, preventing her from going abroad, Ibrahim said ''probably the authorities will block both of them from leaving.'' ''Allowing them to leave the country could affect the reforms and anti-corruption campaign,'' he said.

Hasina told reporters today she was still planning to leave Dhaka later as she had not received any direct instructions not to go.

A court jyesterday asked Dhaka immigration officials to bar Hasina from leaving for London, enroute to the United States to see her son, daughter and their families.

Bangladesh is now run by an army-backed interim government headed by former central bank governor Fakhruddin Ahmed, who has vowed to clean up politics from corruption before holding a free and credible election around end of next year.

The interim authority cancelled an election earlier planned for Jan. 22 and banned all political activity. More than 170 key political figures including Khaleda's elder son and political heir Tareque Rahman have since been detained in the anti-corruption hunt.

Hasina and Khaleda say they are being unfairly targeted and are innocent of wrongdoing, and want an early election. They and others have also asked for a quick lifting of the political ban as it applies to indoor activity.

The government's law and information adviser Mainul Husein said yesterday ending the ban on indoor politics ''may not be imminent, despite demands by the politicians and suggestions by foreign diplomats.'' ''We cannot go by suggestion or dictation by others, as we know better what is to be done and when,'' he told reporters.

''Freeing indoor politics hastily could undermine the reforms and allow criminals back into politics,'' he added.

NEED FOR REFORM As the debate continues, some leaders of Awami and Khaleda's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) have publicly stated the need for reforms in their organisations, and for reducing the absolute powers of the chiefs.

Political analyst Ibrahim said: ''...quite genuinely, the government is waiting for the Awami League and (the) BNP to firm up their own decision on reforming.'' ''The current political situation is emphatically supporting the view that the government has undertaken a ''minus two'' formula,'' said Asif Nazrul, associate professor of law at Dhaka University.

''This aims to erase the overriding influence of Hasina and Khaleda on the country's politics. The extent to which it would be successful depends on how the people will evaluate the government's action against them,'' he said.

Nazrul also said ''in doing so, the caretaker government must keep itself clean, neutral and absolutely credible.'' In that regard he added that the law adviser was being ''over cautious'' about indoor politics.

''I think that lifting the ban on indoor political activity conditionally would actually benefit the reforms agenda and free the government from allegations that it was deliberately holding politics hostage.'' REUTERS SLD KP1512